Blog

UK natural gas prices reach seven-year
highGas prices have soared to the highest level since 2006. The
cause of Monday's price rise was a Norwegian plant power outage but
the National Grid denies there is an overarching supply problem.
The "big six" energy companies say the rising price of gas has been
the main driver behind bill increases over recent
years.Financial Times

News:

Cabinet Picks Could Take On Climate
PolicyPresident Obama has nominated experienced clean air
campaigner Gina McCarthy to take charge of the US Environmental
Protection Agency and physicist and nuclear power advocate Ernest
J. Moniz to run the Department of Energy. The nominees will be a
core part of the president's team charged with turning his climate
rhetoric into reality.New York Times

CCS projects to get second chance at EU funding in
AprilApplications for EU carbon capture and storage funding
re-open in April, giving the UK a second chance to apply. The UK
missed out the first time round as the government refused to give
financial guarantees to the four projects that
applied.BusinessGreen

How extreme weather acts as a catalyst for climate
concernIn a welsh poll 85 per cent of respondents reported being
either fairly or very concerned about the risks of climate change,
while 88 per cent agreed the climate was changing - levels not seen
in British opinion polls since the mid 2000s. The research suggests
recent bad weather has a strong effect on views about climate
change.Guardian

China becomes world's top oil
importerChina has overtaken the US as the world's largest importer
of oil. An increase in US domestic production is part of the reason
for the shift which has the potential to shake up the geopolitics
of natural resources.Financial Times

How Closing New York Times' Green Blog Will Hurt
Environmental CoverageThe New York Times is set to disband its Green Blog, leaving
Andy Revkin's Dot Earth as its only blog dedicated to environmental
issues. Media Matters says this is a blow to its wider
environmental coverage as the blog frequently proved more attentive
and thorough than the print edition.Media Matters

How a decarbonisation target will lead to lower
energy billsThe Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has released
new data showing a decarbonisation target would save consumers
money. The research comes as MPs debate an amendment to the energy
bill which would require a shift away from carbon intensive energy
sources by 2030.BusinessGreen

Why Treasury may reject nuclear
optionThe BBC's Robert Peston mulls over the UK government's
nuclear dilemma - should it pay a high strike price to EDF, or does
the UK's energy future lie with other technologies?Robert Peston

Oil demand could peak within five
yearsFinancial Times columnist Nick Butler predicts demand for
oil peaking by 2020, ahead of other forecasts. His predictions are
based on the market looking for alternatives given the increasing
political and economic uncertainties around the extraction and
production of oil.Financial Times

Sussing out sea level riseThe European Geophysical Union looks at the complexities
behind sea-level rise. It focuses on a new approach to include
impacts on the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets in
projections.Geolog